Everybody makes mistakes (that cost taxpayers $700 billion)

Follow the bouncing ball. Many people smarter than me have followed this sequence of events and written about it intelligently but the plot is just so...intriguing. The current economic and financial sector crisis, like all good stories, has amazing drama, heroes and villains, and a plot that is very simple. In fact, you can diagram it in only a few steps. Behold... Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act passed --> "Investment Banks" package AAAA rated mortgage backed "securities" --> Profit! --> Housing crunch --> Loss! --> Foreclosure! --> Bailout! Now, in the next few months comes the most important part of any good story, the twist ending. Follow... $700 billion in "toxic paper" bought by government --> McCain elected --> Phil Gramm named Secretary of Treasury --> Reverse Robin Hood Ecomomics --> Middle Class pay for all our sins I'm starting two new catchphrases this week. "Toxic paper" == anything you find distasteful. "Allergic to lettuce" == euphemism for fat. "Shawn Kemp's rebounding this year is toxic paper. I wish he wasn't allergic to lettuce."